Monday, July 01, 2013

BUY THAT MAN A BEER: Grant Morrison On Motivations For Wonder Woman: Earth One

One thing I like doing is reading interviews with writer Grant Morrison. Where many modern interviews with comic creators border on Oscar speeches with empty platitudes and cut and paste generic P.R. comments, with Grant they are anything but.

Talking with the L.A. Times' Hero Complex regarding his upcoming 120 page special Wonder Woman: Earth One (with sensational Swamp Thing artist Yanick Paquette), the Scottish wordsmith pokes the coals of the character's themes and creation to get your mind churning and salivating over what lies ahead.

While I'm glad he got a plug in for the sinfully great work Brian Azzarello is currently doing on the monthly title, Grant claims the original Marston stories and Lynda Carter's portrayal of the avenging amazon are his sole inspirations for the long-awaited project.

The top quote from the interview;

"It’s not a comic about superheroes punching each other. It’s about the sexes and how we feel about one another, and what a society of women cut off from the rest of the world for 3,000 years might look like, and what kind of sexuality, what kind of philosophy, what kind of science would that have developed, and how would that impact our world if it actually suddenly became apparent that these women existed. …there’s a lot of potential in there to talk about the way we live today and the way the sexes view one another…"

What do you think? I recommend you read the entire chat in full. From Wonder Woman's costume to how truth poses a double edge sword to the character, it really is great stuff. To see what I mean, click the jump.

4 comments:

Im looking forward to it as a long-time WW fan, but Morrison's writing has never really clicked for me, he is too weird sometimes and deals in subjects Im not sure should really be discussed in the pages of comics. He is too 'off the wall' for me at times. But with Adam Hughes's WW Year One finally being axed for good [given up all hope of that ever happening now[ then this is the only version of Diana us fans can vote for. Yannicks art is sublime and well worth the asking price for this book, no matter how badly Morrison can write her - he has stated in the past that he dosent understand WW at all so he is an odd choice to helm this book. This book is being discussed at great length on the Straightened Circumstances blog which highlights the WW world [of which Im a major blogger there] and the overall feeling there is that this is certainly something that could be unique and well-thought-out, even if the idea of having a non-conformist writer such as Morrison who plainly dosent 'get' WW is a telling step-forward for DC, who has misstepped big style with Azzarello and his current run.It could shape up to be the biggest hit for WW fans ever - or the massive fail its suspected. We WW fans are uncommonly fatalistic about such well-intentioned things - been too disappointed about 'big things for WW' in the past - so in an age where the Amazing Amazon seems largely to have been forgotten [or ignored] this oculd prove the turning point for DC.Off to look for my Magic Lasso - I'll find the truth one way or the other.

Thanks for the great comments Anon! That ambiguity is exciting isn't it? :-)

See that's the best thing about fandom I reckon Karl, I think Azzarello's Wonder Woman is sensational and reminds me of the better parts of Greg Rucka's run on the character.

I think it's a great sign when a writer can publically admit a character was difficult (as it seems Diana can prove for many), yet mentally thrashes out what doesn't work for him until he gets it and comes back to show what he sees. That persistence and honesty scores big with me.

His ability to write about tabok topics often made me think hed write a great WW in the past, as Perez, Rucka and others have used the book to break ground on non comic ground before from lesbians to suicide, and I think as a title that tradition is something we wonder fans can be proud of. God I need to reread The Once And Future Story again.

Yannicks art is as you say and us WW fans can be jaded due to how our heroine has been treated prior (esp if youre also a Legion fan), but it's good to see WW is still next inline for Earth One behind the big two and hasn't been totally guzumped by Green Lantern just yet.

You must be one of the few who actually rates Azzarello's work on WW, Dan. I has high hopes for him until the issue where he basically rewrote the Amazons as rapists, then Id had enough. Diana barely appears, and her battles always end with someone else rescuing her, plus the endless endless supporting cast which clutters up the book [seriously after all this time we still have no idea even what Zola's last name is] plus giving her male relatives...seriously Diana does not have a Cockney nephew, not last time I saw anyway[!].I used to criticise Gail Simone for her writing but he makes her read like Jane Austen in comparison. The onlt thing the current tenure has going for it is Chiang's artwork, which has a slight Don Heck vibe to it [and I love the Heck!]. I keep waiting for the book to improve and each month get disappointed, but being the beloved WW fan I am I will never give up and ride it out until the next writer.

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